Thoughtful Thursday: Housework and such

I scrubbed and scrubbed my kitchen the other day - it was SO pretty - the sink was shiny and the stove top was crud-free, the counters were clear... it had been a day or two since it was looking good and about a week since it was perfect. (This is actually a major improvement for me. I have not been great about doing this regularly, so my new-found domesticity is a nice change.) However... last night my husband made his now-semi-famous Creole in bulk for an office potluck party today. And now my kitchen is a disaster. This is why I rarely used to work on my kitchen very hard - it always gets messed up SO fast. There are also a ton (okay, a dozen) cleaned, empty wine bottles gathering on the counters for my husbands new hobby of wine-making (also a messy adventure!)

I get discouraged by my messy house. I hate looking everywhere and seeing disorganization, clutter, mess, etc. It doesn't make me comfortable in my own home, which is a bad feeling. I've never been a great housekeeper - I blame my childhood. My mom was both a little mentally scattered and very busy outside the home (she had a full-time job from about the time I was 4 or 5 and she likes knick-knacks and "stuff" so our house was always at least a little cluttered, etc.) and was never very into a cleaning. We would often let the house get kind of messy - not dirty, per se, but messy and cluttered and disorganized. So then we'd have to spend a day or two to cleaning and it would be nice for awhile, but we'd let it get away from us... And my husband's mom is way worse, so he isn't terribly picky about housework (I am blessed - I know a lot of guys who are cranky about mess and clutter... including my own dad. Of course, he wasn't ever willing to participate in the cleaning up, so he mostly let it slide, but he complained plenty). But I feel more like now that I stay home so much more, I should have the house in better order. (although I fully expect it to slip again when the baby is born - I think everybody's house suffers a bit when they have a new baby!)

But right now my house is so FULL. We have way too much stuff crammed into our space because of the construction. When my dad made mention yesterday of having to do some inside demolition earlier than originally planned, I panicked. WHERE are we going to put this stuff? Our living room is going to be unlivable. Our dining room will be useless. I'm going to be somewhat miserable with all the chaos. But I'm hoping that it's all going to be worth it - lots more space for stuff and storage!

I am officially 30 weeks today. This means 9 weeks until my likely induction. I am very excited by that, but also a little nervous about getting everything done. Once again, I am dependent on other people to help finish all I need to do to be prepared for this baby! I am also grateful that my dad hired some temporary help to cover the vacations coming up that he and I were going to have to cover (and whatever I couldn't do was going to prevent him from working on the room any further).